Good timing for an Equinox shipment

[vferrari]

The old law of supply and demand. Demand is outpacing supply right now. Minelab should have anticipated this. You hype something like they have this machine, they ought to have known it would be in unprecedented high demand.

Glad I haven't ordered yet. I have been waiting for head to head matchups, and for that reason, I am anxious for you guys to get your machines. Hopefully it will be soon............

What is this law? I didn't know owning an Equinox was illegal. I want this law repealed. They can get my Equinox when they peel my cold...

Yes it is a very little known fact that when there is no supply, demand will always outpace it. That's what happens when an assembly line starts. That's is in Chapter 2 of that Economy for Dummies book

Yeah, Minelab is the only company to do this. Oh wait, no, Garrett did it this summer (AT Max), and XP did it this Spring (Deus Ver 4 and the HF Coils), and Nokta did it last winter/spring (Impact) (and that's just 2017). Oh yeah, Whites did it in 2016 (Mx Sport). First Texas kinda gave up, they just release old detectors with new names but thankfully at rock bottom prices. They all do this. The move was a strategic one to bite into AT Max sales. Mission Accomplished. Yeah, they'll have a bunch of screaming, irate detectorists, but very few will actually cancel or hold it against them for very long. How do I know? Because everyone seems to have forgotten the above detector rollout debacles and briefly focus on the company that is doing it to them now. Someone at Minelab got a bonus the minute they posted that inane warehouse pic to FB showing all those "Equinoxes" in their pretty boxes on a shipping pallet and ready to go from some unknown destination to another unknown destination on some slow boat to nowhere. LoL.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

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[flgliderpilot]

Where did you order those? And how much were they? ML hasn't even put any accessory price or availabilty information on their accessories page.

GOTCHA! Nah I didn't... they aren't available yet. : (

 

[flgliderpilot]

I'm sure the pre-order hype was simply to get enough money to have the first batch manufactured. They are probably figuring out the large volume manufacturing process as we speak.

So the small first batch is bound to have a few issues.

Willing to take the risk though!

 

[vferrari]

GOTCHA! Nah I didn't... they aren't available yet. : (

Oh yeah, you got me. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, allows them to come clean before the "evidence to the contrary" is presented. Lol.

Let us know when you [really] get your 600. Not a lot of info out there on it from the testers and there is some confusing stuff in the manual that makes me think ML is doing no favors for the 600 folks, especially on tones. Hope I'm wrong. I figure the wireless hardware that comes with the 800 not to mention the faster recovery speed, higher iron bias range settings, user profile save button, and of course Gold Mode (which I intend to use for relic hunting in hot soil) etc. really closes the price gap and lowers the "value" that the 600 appears to be at first blush. Besides, you can't even buy the 800 included wireless hardware accessories for the 600 yet, apparently. Thanks, Minelab.

 

[smokeythecat]

Ya'll might get the goldmine, probably not the shaft. Time will tell but I still think most preorders will be arriving before the end of this month. And for the rest, summer's coming. The hype is getting old.

 

[ARC]

 

[ARC]

 

[ARC]

IMO... I hope they are more "stout" than they look.

Also... I have never had much luck with those types of buttons over time.

And... whilst I am "nit pickin"...

When are they gonna make these types of what I call "phone detectors" with a removable / detachable screen and quick clamp post ?

Telescoping shaft to 1 foot ?

I mean doesn't it seem to anyone else that somewhere along the line the most practical / logical "next moves" in these type of detectors development for travel / storage purposes ?

I don't know about the rest of you veteran detectorists out there...

But storage and travel is HALF the detector battle... ALWAYS has been.

Bah.

 

[HighVDI]

Also... I have never had much luck with those types of buttons over time.

How do the buttons hold up on the other minelab machines? I've always wondered about this.

 

[ARC]

How do the buttons hold up on the other minelab machines? I've always wondered about this.

Well all my machines have knobs.

I have had a machine (garrett 2500) that had those buttons... with no probs but I did not own it but a couple years...
I did have probs with the rubber button on that machine getting stuck in "pressed" position due to sand / dirt wedged in between button and face which would cause it to stay engaged / fault.

 

[ARC]

PS... knobs have drawbacks as well on excals...

I always thought they should have been hollow stainless.

Would add a little more weight to an already heavy detector... but IMO would have been the correct way.

 

[vferrari]

IMO... I hope they are more "stout" than they look.

Also... I have never had much luck with those types of buttons over time.

And... whilst I am "nit pickin"...

When are they gonna make these types of what I call "phone detectors" with a removable / detachable screen and quick clamp post ?

Telescoping shaft to 1 foot ?

I mean doesn't it seem to anyone else that somewhere along the line the most practical / logical "next moves" in these type of detectors development for travel / storage purposes ?

I don't know about the rest of you veteran detectorists out there...

But storage and travel is HALF the detector battle... ALWAYS has been.

Bah.

Yep. Compact travel is one of the reasons why my Deus isn't going anywhere when the Eq shows up. I did see a video of a couple of Eq testers on the beach who were able to fit two completely broken down Eqs into a moderately sized backpack. It took them all of 2 minutes (to the second, no jump cuts, no time lapse) to fully assemble one including coil re-attachment. So there is that.

Re the buttons, time will tell I guess, but no testers complained about it and they are sealed to prevent sand and moisture intrusion and the faceplate comes with a removable screen protector. I have similar membrane like pushbutton on my Deus controller that get a workout. No problems so far after 3 years. But as always, YMMV.

 

[smokeythecat]

AARC, the Equinox is not heavy. I tried one out a few months back. It is slightly nose heavy, the straight stick design makes it a tiny bit awkward but not much. Without an S curve to the armpiece, it does tend to want to "flop" against your arm. I would always recommend a long sleeve shirt with it, even in the summer. I don't think the buttons will be much of a problem. My Deus collapses quite nicely. I did not have a chance to take the Equinox apart last fall. Don't think the dealer would have liked that.

 

[HighVDI]

AARC, the Equinox is not heavy. I tried one out a few months back. It is slightly nose heavy, the straight stick design makes it a tiny bit awkward but not much. Without an S curve to the armpiece, it does tend to want to "flop" against your arm. I would always recommend a long sleeve shirt with it, even in the summer. I don't think the buttons will be much of a problem. My Deus collapses quite nicely. I did not have a chance to take the Equinox apart last fall. Don't think the dealer would have liked that.

I don't know if you paid attention to this detail but did you happen to notice if there is a decent amount of height adjustment? I'm on the taller side and when using my current machines I either need to swing a little closer to my boots or give the old back a little hunch.

 

[flgliderpilot]

Oh yeah, you got me. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, allows them to come clean before the "evidence to the contrary" is presented. Lol.

Let us know when you [really] get your 600. Not a lot of info out there on it from the testers and there is some confusing stuff in the manual that makes me think ML is doing no favors for the 600 folks, especially on tones. Hope I'm wrong. I figure the wireless hardware that comes with the 800 not to mention the faster recovery speed, higher iron bias range settings, user profile save button, and of course Gold Mode (which I intend to use for relic hunting in hot soil) etc. really closes the price gap and lowers the "value" that the 600 appears to be at first blush. Besides, you can't even buy the 800 included wireless hardware accessories for the 600 yet, apparently. Thanks, Minelab.

Absolutely. Well, for the hunting I do, 90% beach hunting, I think the 600 will be fine. The high freq VLF gold mode will be completely useless on the beach and will probably false like mad. As far as moving the tones around, I don't think thats necessary for me. I'd rather learn the machine's behavior than try to customize it. The only options I wish the 600 had is multiple brightness levels. The recovery speeds I think are probably fine.. the beach is not trashy enough to justify the fastest setting on the 800, and the salt would seriously hurt the depth at those fast speeds.

I also wish the 600 came with nicer headphones. I was hoping to be able to use the stock headphones for awhile but those look like total garbage, so the water proof set will be on order immediately when they become available.

Thats fine really because I'd never use the wireless set anyway. I stick with one set (the waterproof) because the machine will sound different between headphones so no point in using the wireless set (in the salt water they won't work anyway).

 

[vferrari]

I think the 600 will def get it done for you. No fatal flaws that I can see. Just wanted to make sure some of the finer differences between the two machines are put out there for full disclosure. Regarding gold mode, I know it is not something you plan on using for your primary style of detecting, but for the benefit of others listening in, ML made a late breaking change and it is Multi IQ not single freq HF VLF. Still not something likely to be used under wet salt beach conditions. Beach mode Multi IQ is set up more ideally for dry and wet salt beach conditions and since it incorporates elements of the high frequency transmission modes should have some success with gold though extreme salt ground conditions will always challenge non PI detectors when it comes to gold and other mid conductors. HTH.

 

[smokeythecat]

High VDI, I did not get to experiment with the length of the lower unit.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Absolutely. Well, for the hunting I do, 90% beach hunting, I think the 600 will be fine. The high freq VLF gold mode will be completely useless on the beach and will probably false like mad. As far as moving the tones around, I don't think thats necessary for me. I'd rather learn the machine's behavior than try to customize it. The only options I wish the 600 had is multiple brightness levels. The recovery speeds I think are probably fine.. the beach is not trashy enough to justify the fastest setting on the 800, and the salt would seriously hurt the depth at those fast speeds.

I also wish the 600 came with nicer headphones. I was hoping to be able to use the stock headphones for awhile but those look like total garbage, so the water proof set will be on order immediately when they become available.

Thats fine really because I'd never use the wireless set anyway. I stick with one set (the waterproof) because the machine will sound different between headphones so no point in using the wireless set (in the salt water they won't work anyway).

The high freq is added bonus on Eq, when I tested the Equinox I found the 40 khz had no problem finding the thin gold chains I buried for the test so you would be able to use it to find gold chains in dirt and sand.

I personally never seen any problem with multi freq and depth on salt beaches with any of Minelabs multi freq detectors.

 

[flgliderpilot]

The high freq is added bonus on Eq, when I tested the Equinox I found the 40 khz had no problem finding the thin gold chains I buried for the test so you would be able to use it to find gold chains in dirt and sand.

I personally never seen any problem with multi freq and depth on salt beaches with any of Minelabs multi freq detectors.

Regarding depth, I was referring to the gold mode was originally single freq VLF not multifreq, and at a high frequency which would be poor in salt, but it sounds like that has changed to multifreq if that is indeed true.. but that would mean it's identical to the 600 which uses all the same frequencies in multifrequency mode. Unless they are suggesting they are using only the highest two frequencies in gold mode to id smaller items.

How did the standard beach mode do with those chains? I may change my order if gold mode is useful on the beach.